Henderson, Nevada
April 12, 1999Richard Budd, chairman
and chief executive officer, AgriBioTech Inc.
(ABT) today announced that the bank syndicate that provides ABT with its revolving line of
credit has provided a $10.0 million seasonal increase in the amount of credit available to
the company through June 30, 1999.
The bank syndicate that provides ABT with its revolving line of credit includes Bank of
America
National Trust and Savings Association, Deutsche Financial Services Corp. and Branch
Banking & Trust Co.
"This increase provides ABT with adequate working capital to meet our seasonal needs,
and we are pleased with the cooperation we have received from the syndicate and the
confidence in us that this shows,'' said Budd.
"We announced early in March that demand for our products and spring shipments
appeared to be good. Demand for our products over the past 30 days continues strong, and
we need the additional credit to support our inventory and receivables,'' said Budd.
He added: "This increased demand and the status of our integration plan
implementation increases our confidence in achieving pretax break-even performance,
excluding our restructuring charge, for the second half of FY 99, as previously announced
on March 8, 1999.''
The base revolver agreement between ABT and the syndicate runs through June 2001. One of
the
reasons ABT sought the additional credit is due to its revenue growth during the first
half of fiscal year 1999 (FY 99) after the base agreement was signed in June 1998. The
company completed nine acquisitions, with annualized net sales, excluding intercompany
sales, of approximately $98.6 million since July 1, 1998.
The $10.0 million increase and base $100.0 million facility carry an interest rate of
LIBOR (London
Inter-Bank Offering Rate) plus 3 percent, or the bank's reference rate plus 1-1/8 percent,
at ABT's
option. ABT has adequate availability under the borrowing formula to utilize the increase.
Additionally, Budd noted, "With our lenders' help, this additional credit also
provides increased
flexibility to ABT in addressing our subordinated convertible debt.''
AgriBioTech is a fully integrated full-service seed company specializing in the forage and
turfgrass seed sector, complete with research and development of proprietary seed
varieties, seed- processing plants, and a national and international distribution and
sales network. ABT's vision is to lead the turf and forage seed industry in discovering
its value potential.
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